Pakistani Prime Minister Forced Out Over 'Panama Papers' Revelation

July 28, 2017

Anjum Naveed/AP Photo

A billboard shows the portrait of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif displayed along a main highway in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, July 28, 2017. Pakistan's Supreme Court in a unanimous decision has asked the country's anti-corruption body to file corruption charges against Sharif, his two sons and daughter for concealing their assets.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, resigned Friday after the country’s Supreme Court ruled he was no longer fit for office. The Court considered allegations uncovered from the Panama Papers. Sharif’s three children managed massive wealth offshore, and while Sharif wasn’t named in the documents, they showed a massive conspiracy in his inner-most circle. Sharif also lied to investigators about his knowledge of the offshore accounts.

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To discuss the resignation, and what it means for Pakistan, we’re joined by Aqil Shah, an assistant professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Oklahoma and non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s South Asia program. He’s author of the book The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan.